Even as the Sens limp toward a seventh straight playoff absence, it's not all doom and gloom.
Even as the Sens limp toward a seventh straight playoff absence, it's not all doom and gloom.
With 20 games still to play, Senators fans are already hitting the draft simulators and mock NHL drafts in an attempt to maintain excitement about their team. After seven years without the playoffs, it's becoming a tradition.
Drafts are built on hope, and despite another dismal season for the Senators, there are still reasons to be excited – about the draft, the lottery, and the future.
The first glimmer of hope is that the Senators are poised to have their highest selection in a draft since 2020 when they drafted Tim Stutzle third overall and Jake Sanderson two picks later.
On TSN’s trade deadline-day show, they conducted a mock draft lottery, which had the Senators vaulting up to the second overall pick. That would be nice for Sens fans.
As we sit here today, the Senators have the sixth-best odds at the first overall pick and if they don't jump into the top three of the draft, they're most likely to land with the sixth overall selection, if the season ended today. There's roughly an 83% chance they'll pick fifth, sixth or seventh.
Ottawa’s pipeline has been severely hampered by trades in recent years. Former GM Pierre Dorion’s deals for Alex DeBrincat in 2022 and Jake Chychrun in 2023 meant the team lost the seventh overall pick in 2022 and the 12th overall pick in 2023. So they haven't had a first-round pick in the last two seasons.
Among the team’s current crop of prospects, nobody is truly ready to step in and make an impact. Tyler Boucher and Roby Jarventie have been halted by injuries. Zach Ostapchuk has been solid but nothing special in Belleville. Overall, the Senators desperately need an injection of talent in their prospect pool.
The 2024 NHL Draft should be an exciting one for Senators fans, especially after last year when the team didn't pick until the fourth round. And the top end of this year's draft is supposed to be relatively strong.
If the Senators had the sixth overall pick, they could look at drafting centres such as Cayden Lindstrom, Berkly Catton, or go the defenceman route with Sam Dickinson or Anton Silayev. All bring different varieties of skill sets, size, and speed, and all have the chance to be elite players someday.
If the season ended today, there would be an 8.5% chance of the Sens picking first and winning the big first prize: Boston University’s dynamic centre, Macklin Cellebrini. Imagine him on a roster which already has four skilled centres in Tim Stutzle, Josh Norris, Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto.
But even without that extravagant luck, the Sens have a shot at adding a pillar to the franchise.
As a Senators fan, it's okay to have hope. This has been a season from hell. But as the season progressed, there were also signs of the Senators moving in the right direction under new ownership. Michael Andlauer seems rock solid, and unlike his predecessor, appears willing to invest in his team the way an NHL owner should, both on and off the ice. And let's not forget the Senators still have many young stars in the making.
So allow yourself to dream and hope, because it's way more fun than the alternative.